1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to photographic equipment, and more particularly to a stitching device that provides a defined series of overlapping images while using a large format camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditional large format photography, such as a 4×5 inch format and larger, has many advantages over small format, such as 35 mm and smaller, and medium format, such as 6×4.5 cm. to 6×9 cm., photography. The ability to compose on a ground glass, control depth of field, and correct perspective has made large format the best choice for professionals in the product and architectural arenas for decades.
As digital photography continues to take over the industry and replace film in nearly all applications, more professional photographers have moved to digital capture as clients demand the cost savings and speed that a digital workflow provides. In using large format cameras and related equipment, photographic equipment manufacturers offer adaptor devices that allow a photographer to use digital technology on existing film cameras. An example of such an adaptor device is a plate for converting a large format film camera to accept a digital device. The plate replaces the ground glass back and film receiver on a large format camera, and allows a photographer to mount a digital capture device containing the circuitry necessary to capture digital images through the optics of an existing large format film camera system. Unfortunately, the smaller format of the capture chips essentially turn a large format camera such as a 4×5 inch camera into a small to medium format device, thus sacrificing many of the advantages of large format photography.
For many years improvements in film technology drove improvements in image quality. As digital printing methods appeared, a combination of film and scanner technologies drove options to new heights. During this time, photographers were able to continue to use the same equipment they always had. As a professional photographer with 25 years in the industry, the Applicant had been using large format equipment continuously throughout his career.
As digital capture quality came of age, image quality improvements were no longer driven by film and scanner technology, but rather by improvements in chip technology. The devices used for high-end digital image capture typically cost from 15,000 to 40,000 dollars and have an effective lifespan of approximately four years. At the end of this obsolescence period, the capture device is still perfectly functional, but the client base has become aware of the availability of increasingly higher resolution image captures and capture devices. The market therefore demands that a photographer upgrade or lose market share. The question “Why are the files so small?” is one that instills dread in a professional photographer, and typically costs upwards of $20,000 to address.
The photographic stitching device of the present invention allows a still photographer to leverage his existing digital capture equipment for several more years while recovering the large format advantages that were heretofore lost in the conversion from film to digital. The photographic stitching device of the present invention, and the various embodiments described and envisioned herein, provides photographers with a way to leverage existing equipment with exquisite results and defer costly and repetitive ongoing device obsolescence.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a photographic stitching device that allows a large format film camera to maintain its inherent advantages and qualities while working with a digital capture device of smaller format. It is another object of the present invention to provide a photographic stitching device that provides the ability to create spatially proximate photographic images that overlap by a prescribed degree.
These and other objects of the present invention are not to be considered comprehensive or exhaustive, but rather, exemplary of objects that may be ascertained after reading this specification and claims with the accompanying drawings.